Black Blood (15 page)

Somewhat
defeated Gemma let out a heavy sigh.

“Can you go
please? I’m tired and I need a shower.”

Penelope’s nod
was stiff. Straightening her clothing she approached Gemma one
stiletto heel at a time. Resting a light hand on her shoulder, she
looked into her daughter’s eyes. “I know you asked me to stop
caring about you, but I can’t do that. I love you.”

Gemma knew the
right response. She knew how to erase all the tension and see her
mother smile at her with that pride she always basked in, but her
lips just wouldn’t form the words. In fact, they wouldn’t even form
a smile.

“Good night,
Mom.”

“Sleep
well.”

She kept her
eyes on the wall as her mother kissed her on the cheek and left the
room. Flopping onto her bed with a moan, she rolled onto her back
and gazed up at the ceiling. Pulling the phone from her pocket, she
ran her thumb over the screen. Three weeks ago, she would have been
getting a text from her boyfriend asking if she was okay. Three
weeks ago, she would have gone all mushy on the inside and called
him back with butterflies dancing up her limbs.

All hope had
been stripped from her world by two parents who thought they knew
best. Well they were wrong and she was going to get that hope back.
Taking out the other cell phone from her back pocket, she ran her
thumb over the screen and willed the night to pass quickly.

* * * *

Gabe’s
dilapidated caravan was white and rusting. It sat in an isolated,
unkempt lot with long grass tickling its belly and birds perching
on its crooked aerial. Gemma reached for the door and feared it
might fall from its hinges. Her worries were pushed aside as the
door burst open and she was greeted with a fresh and friendly
smile.

“I take it
you’re a morning person.” Gemma pushed past his laughter and into
the claustrophobic space.

She stood with
her back against the closet and surveyed her surroundings. The back
corner housed a rumpled bed with a faded yellow blanket and
scrunched up pillows. The tiny table was covered with newspapers
and a bowl of half eaten cereal. Behind her was a small couch area
that was strewn with a pair of jeans and a couple of black
T-shirts.

“This looks
like Dom’s room. How old are you again?”

Gabe’s laughter
filled the small space easily. He shook his head, somewhat abashed.
“I know, Lena would kill me if she saw this mess.”

“Lena?”

“Your
mother.”

Gemma felt the
blood drain from her face.

“Sorry.” Gabe
slid into the booth seat and resumed eating his breakfast. “I know
you’re not ready to talk about that yet, but man, when you are… I
can’t wait to tell you about her.” His eyes glistened.

Gemma cleared
her throat and slid into the booth opposite him.

“So.” She
threaded her fingers together and placed her hands on the
newspapers before her. “When am I heading back?”

She had spent
her night conjuring up images of Harrison on the beach once more.
She had imagined running into his arms and kissing his soft lips.
She had felt the fire licking up her spine as they held each other
close. She couldn’t wait to see him again and had been busting to
get out the door since the moment she woke. Waiting for nearly an
hour to get Gabe’s text had been torture. Trying to hide her
jitters from Ruby had been hard, but she fumbled through a lie
about needing some more time on her own and how healthy the bike
ride had been for her the day before. She had avoided her parents
by skipping breakfast altogether, not wanting to venture into
another discussion that would end with them agreeing to disagree
over something that Gemma had zero say in.

The bike ride
over to Gabe’s place had been spent thinking of different excuses
that would explain Harrison’s re-emergence into the world. She was
pretty sure she would settle on Coyote and Mary meeting up sometime
in the future... as if the couple were destined to be together. She
wasn’t quite sure how she’d explain Coyote’s escape from prison,
but…

“Probably a few
weeks.”

Gemma’s mind
screeched to a halt as Gabe’s voice registered.

“What? A few
weeks, I thought… I thought I’d be going back today!”

Gabe’s
shoulders shook with a chuckle. “Sweetie, you’ve never traveled
under your own steam before, if you can learn to in one day then
you’re a miracle child. You might be a pure one, kid, but you’re
not Jesus.”

His laughter
grated on her nerves. She slumped back against the vinyl seat.

“Now don’t go
sulking like a baby. We’ll get you back as soon as we can, but
we’ve got a lot of work to do before then. For one, we need to find
out as much about Coyote Granger’s new history as possible. We need
to know where to send you and how we’re going to get him back on
his original course. If you really want Harrison to re-exist
exactly as you left him, then Mary needs to get pregnant on the
same day as before.”

Gemma’s spirit
withered.

“This is going
to be harder than I thought.”

Gabe’s eyes
danced as he looked up from his food with a nod. “You’ve also got a
hell of a lot of practicing to do in order to get to the right
place and make it home again.”

“Can’t you just
come with me?”

Gabe swallowed
his mouthful of Cheerios and looked solemn. “I can’t travel
anymore. I gave it up a long time ago.”

“What do you
mean, gave it up?” Gemma leaned forward and placed her elbows on
the table. “You can do that?”

“
We all
have a choice, even the
electus
could have stopped traveling if they’d wanted to. It’s kind
of like going to the gym. You keep going, you keep working out… you
stay strong. You stop going? Your muscles lose their
strength.”

“
But I
thought you said you had a dual memory, doesn’t that mean you can
still do it?”

Gabe shook his
head. “I’ve worked hard to keep that skill. The older you get, the
weaker you become. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t physically
travel anymore.”

“But, you don’t
look that old. You’re probably the same age as my parents.”

“I’m a year
younger than Alistair.”

“So.” Gemma
grabbed his arm. “He still travels all the time! You can totally do
it!”

“
He
shouldn’t
be
traveling anymore,” Gabe’s voice was black. “The only reason he’s
even capable of doing it is because of you.”

He dropped his
spoon with a sigh.

“Wait, what do
you mean? I don’t understand.” Gemma felt a disquiet stirring
within. Her brows crinkled with a mixture of confusion and
disbelief.

“They’re using
you,” Gabe said softly. “They draw from your strength, that’s why
you’re always so tired when you get back. Without you, they
wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.”

She
sat at the
table looking into a pair of hurting eyes and couldn't speak. She
could see the tango of anger and pain glinting in his retinas. As
his words descended into the soft tissue of her consciousness she
felt her breathing begin to quicken.

That’s what
Harrison had been trying to tell me! That’s why they took me on
that observation trip… and to Mesa Verde!

She felt the
jolt of the revelation. Jumping from her seat, she paced to the
door and was about ready to fling it open when logic stopped
her.

Her body went
statue still.

“
You’re
telling me the truth, aren’t you?”

“That’s why
Harrison came to see me two weeks ago. He was worried about you and
wanted to know if his theory was correct.”

“Yeah, well
he’s always right about everything.” Gemma returned to her seat and
slumped into it. Leaning forward she placed her head into her hands
and grabbed two handfuls of hair. “But… why would they do that to
me? They’re my parents, they’re not supposed to…”

She felt Gabe’s
long fingers rub the top of her arm. “I know, kid, they’re
not.”

“
Is this
what you meant? About bad things brewing?”

“I didn’t think
they’d take Harrison, but, yeah, this is what I meant.”

“If you knew
they were bad all along, why didn’t you come and get me?”

She looked up
at him and saw regret.

“I thought it’d
be best to wait until you were ready to hear it. It took me years
to find you and… when I did, you weren’t in a place to grasp this.”
He shook his head with a rye smile. “Hell, kid, you’re barely
coping with it now. You know, them getting rid of Harrison probably
did me a big favor.”

Gemma’s eyes
narrowed and Gabe raised his hands in surrender.

“Hey.” He
smiled. “I’m helping you get him back! You point those daggers
somewhere else, sweetheart.”

Gemma dropped
her gaze. “Don’t you see though, I lose either way.” She let go of
her hair and looked up with a sigh. “Getting Harrison back is all I
want, but in doing it, I’m learning that the two people I trusted
more than anyone are total fakes.”

Gabe’s eyes
swirled with compassion as he reached for her hand. He didn’t say
anything as he gathered up her fingers and rubbed gentle circles
over the back of her hand. A soft melody reverberated from his
chest as he hummed out a simple tune. Gemma felt a whisper of a
memory stir in the back of her mind.

Chapter Twenty-One

St Augustine, Florida
– 2011 AD

She kept quiet
about the familiar tune; still not willing to believe it could be
real. Unable to fight off the growing feeling, she had wriggled her
hand free and brushed aside her turmoil in order to get to work.
Gabe had transitioned smoothly into business mode and after
ordering some breakfast into her had marched her outside for their
first lesson.

They now stood
in the empty lot next to Gabe’s caravan, the morning sun hot on
their backs and a slight breeze mercifully dancing through their
clothing. Gemma stood facing her teacher. She tried to push the
warring niggles aside in order to focus. Summoning some of her
training, she drew in a calming breath and centered her mind.

“Okay.” Gabe
stretched his neck then rubbed his hands together. “Traveling is
all about controlling your mind and visualizing your target.”

Gemma bobbed
her head as she listened.

“Thankfully
you’re heading back to a place you’ve been before. The more
experienced travelers, like Alistair, can find places by simply
researching an area as fully as they can and building up accurate
images in their mind. That is a very challenging skill to master
and takes years of practice. All I’m asking you to do is get back
to Canon City, the exact location you were last time. Do you think
you can picture it?”

Gemma closed
her eyes and sought out the images in her brain. Using all her
concentration she honed in on the smell of the dusty roads, the
feel of the mare galloping beneath her and the sight of the curving
road leading towards the gorge.

“I think so.”
She bit the inside of her cheek.

“Okay, you’re
gonna need to be a lot more confident than that.” Gabe slapped her
shoulder. “But don’t worry about it, we’ll be doing a little
research leading up to this so the image in your mind will be as
clear as possible, okay?”

Gemma nodded,
trying to hide the sudden doubt in her ability.

“You’re gonna
be great.” Gabe shone her a wide, toothy smile, which she couldn’t
help reciprocating.

“Let’s start
simple.” He clasped his hands together and looked to the ground. “I
want you to close your eyes and visualize exactly where you were a
couple of minutes ago.”

“What, you
mean, like, in the caravan?”

“Yep, that’ll
do. Just picture everything you can about it… the colors, the
smells, the lighting… whatever you can conjure up.”

“Okay.” Gemma
closed her eyes, visualizing the furniture in the tiny caravan,
picturing the newspapers on the table, the clothes on the
couch.

“You got a
clear image?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, now
focus your body on getting there. Imagine yourself standing in a
spot in the caravan.”

Gemma scrunched
her eyes tighter, feeling the pressure of the demand. She forced
the doubts aside and pictured herself standing with her back
against the closet, just like she had when she arrived.

“Now say the
time you want to be there.”

“What time is
that?” Gemma felt panic rise as the image started to fade with her
question.

“Stay focused!
Keep your eyes closed.”

Gemma fought
for the image she had.

“Repeat after
me… nine forty-two, July ten, two thousand and eleven.”

Gemma licked
her lips then repeated the words.

“Now go.”

Gemma heard the
words, willed her body and then felt the tingling sensation spread
through every nerve. The feeling was all too familiar as her body
disintegrated and reappeared in the caravan.

Standing with
her back against the closet she drank in the scene in stunned
silence. There she was, sitting at the table. Gabe was holding her
hand and humming. Her shoulders were slumped, but she recognized
the tense set of her muscles. That must have been when she was
trying to fight off the feeling of reminiscence.

She felt her
brain jolt as she realized that the “her” from earlier today was
about to see a naked version of herself.

Could I handle
that?

The panicky
pace of her heart told her she probably couldn’t.

How do I get
back?

As if she’d
said the question aloud, Gabe opened his eyes and looked straight
at her. His soft smile was filled with pride as he looked at her
face. She ignored the warmth filling her and mouthed an urgent
plea.